The effects of aortic carboxypeptidase protein(ACLP) and wilm's protein(WT1) genes on inguinal region problems in childhood

Surgical problems of inguinal region such as hernia, hydrocele and undescended testis are seen frequently and its etiology is still obscure. Recently innumerably studies have being conducted both in our country and abroad in order to explain this etiology. In this study we investigated ACLP and WT1 activities in the sacs of inguinal hernia, hydrocele and undescended testis.After the approval of the local ethical committee, the samples, obtained from the patients who were operated for inguinal hernia, hydrocele and undescended testis, were stored in 10 % formalin solution after rinsed with saline. The samples of the peritoneum, obtained from the other abdominal operations, were served as the controls. Immunuhistochemical staining for vascular smooth muscle, extracellular matrix and epithelium was performed on 6 specimens in each groups. The degree of positive staining for ACLP and WT1 was evaluated by semiquantitive scoring on a scale of 1 to 5 such as inconspicuous(1), mild(2), moderate(3), strong(4), very strong(5) and for the distribution focal, diffuse. The results of the immunohistochemical scores were assessed by X2 test. The probability level of .05 or less was chosen to represent statistical significanceThe degree of the ACLP and WT1 expression in all study groups were found to be statistically significant when the results were compared with the control group. The result of AKBP expression was most significantly increased in male inguinal hernia and undescended testis groups. This result of male inguinal hernia and undescended testis were succeeded by the result of ACLP expression in female inguinal hernia and hydrocele (p<.05). Even though the result of WT1 expression was found to be statistically significant between the study and control groups, no significant different was found between the study groups.The increase in ACLP expression was thought to be secondary to the failure of the obliteration of the processes vaginalis. The increased WT1 expression which thought to have pivotal role in epithelium ? mesenchyme transformation was believed to occur due to the failure of this transformation in inguinal pathologies. We believe that further studies in this subject would shed more light on the etiology of the inguinal pathologies in children.